Jason Silva

Jason Luis Silva (born February 6, 1982) is a Venezuelan-American television personality, filmmaker, futurist, philosopher, and public speaker. He is known for hosting National Geographic documentaries: Brain Games and Origins. His goal is to use technology to excite people about philosophy and science.[1] The Atlantic describes Silva as "A Timothy Leary of the Viral Video Age".[2] Silva, a former presenter on Current TV, lectures internationally on such topics as creativity, spirituality, technology and humanity, writes and produces short films, and co-hosts National Geographic's Brain Games.[2]

For the Chilean footballer, see Jason Silva (footballer).
Jason Silva
Born
Jason Luis Silva

(1982-02-06) February 6, 1982
Caracas, Venezuela
Alma materUniversity of Miami
Career

Personal life

Silva was born in Caracas, Venezuela.[2][3] His mother, Linda Mishkin, an artist, is Ashkenazi Jewish. His father, Luis Manuel Silva, converted to Judaism, but, according to Silva, they were secular and lived in a household "more akin to a Woody Allen film" with lots of humor and love for art and theater.[4][5] He is also brother to Jordan Silva and Paulina Silva.

Inspired by Charles Baudelaire's Hashish House, Silva's obsession with filmmaking and documentation started as a teenager when he hosted "salons" at his house to discuss ideas. Video, rather than pen, became his preferred way to memorialize what he calls "ecstatic moments". For Silva, it is not enough to "feel" the experience. These moments need to be "narrated in real time."[3]

Silva earned a degree in film and philosophy from the University of Miami[2] in Coral Gables, Florida. He, along with Max Lugavere, produced and starred in a video documentary/performance piece entitled "Textures of Selfhood."[6] The short, experimental film about hedonism and spirituality[6] based on Silva's and Lugavere's life in Miami, gained the attention of Current producers who were looking for "passionate storytellers".[7]

Silva currently lives in New York City.[2]

Career

Silva is a self-described wonder junkie[1] and performance philosopher,[8] a term he first heard on a website called Space Collective by Rene Daalder.[3] He uses television, online media and lecture halls to share his perspectives.[2] For example, in the video The Mirroring Mind, Silva "explores human consciousness and the creation of that consciousness through self-reference."[9]

Public speaking

An active and prolific speaker, Silva has spoken at Google,[3] The Economist Ideas Festival,[3] the prestigious DLD Digital Life Design Conference in Munich,[10] TEDGlobal,[11] the Singularity Summit,[3] the PSFK Conference,[12] and the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.[10][13]

At TEDGlobal in June 2012, Jason premiered a short video entitled "Radical Openness".[9][14] In September 2012, Silva presented his Radical Openness videos at the opening keynote at Microsoft TechEd Australia.[15] Radical Openness was also featured in his presentation at La Ciudad de las Ideas conference on November 10, 2012.

In September 2012, he presented "We Are the Gods Now" at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.[16]

Television

Current TV

From 2005 to 2011, Silva was a presenter and producer on Al Gore's cable network Current TV.[3][8][17]

Brain Games

In 2013, Silva and Apollo Robbins became the hosts of Brain Games on the National Geographic Channel. The show explores the brain through interactive games that look at perception, decision-making, and patterning, as well as how easily the brain can be fooled.[18][19] Experts in psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience appear on the show, as Silva states, "to make sure we're doing the science right."[20] The show, which premiered in 2011, received 1.5 million viewers for episodes one and two and set a National Geographic record as the highest rated series launch in that channel's history.[8][21]

The experience of being tricked or fooled or made aware of a shortcoming makes you curious. It makes you kind of get up from your seat a little bit and be like 'How did that work?'

— Jason Silva[22]

Origins: The Journey of Humankind

Released in 2017 as a part of the National Geographic Channel, Jason Silva hosted this short series. Origins explores the very beginning of mankind and rewinds all the way back to the beginning, tracing the innovations that made us modern.[23] The series features 8 episodes of approximately 45 minutes running time each. There has only been one season confirmed as of yet for Origins.

Guest appearances

On August 15, 2012, he appeared on CBS This Morning.[24] On September 24, 2012, he appeared on Australian ABC program Q&A.[25] He has also appeared as a guest on Season 2 of StarTalk.[26][27]

Original internet content

"Shots of Awe"

In May 2013, Jason began "Shots of Awe", a YouTube channel on the Discovery Digital Networks TestTube, presenting weekly "micro-documentaries" on creativity, innovation, exponential technology, futurism, metaphysics, existentialism and the human condition.[28] Zoltan Istvan, editor for the Huffington Post, wrote that Shots of Awe is a blend of philosophy and art and has been massively popular to the younger generation.[29]

Other appearances

In October 2013, he appeared on YouTube for Google and NASA's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab.[30]

He has appeared multiple times as a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.[31]

On March 18, 2014, he was a guest in an episode of SourceFed's Tabletalk.[32]

On December 13, 2017, he appeared as a guest host on the trivia app HQ Trivia.

Other accomplishments

Silva has been featured in The Atlantic,[2] The Economist,[33] Vanity Fair,[34] Forbes,[35][36][37] Wired,[38] and many others.

In 2011 he became a fellow at the Hybrid Reality Institute, examining the symbiosis between man and machine.[8][39]

His film ATTENTION: The Immersive Power of Cinema[40] was part of the exhibition 'KINO und der kinamatografische Blick' ('CINEMA and the cinamatographic gaze'), 20 March - 2 June 2013, at MEWO Kunsthalle in Memmingen (Germany).[41]

In 2014, Silva served as advisor for National Geographic Channel's Expedition Granted competition in which finalists are chosen based on their project's originality, viability and potential impact on either the local or global community.[42]

Conferences, Keynotes and Lectures
  • "Critical Crossroads" at the TEDGlobal 2012 "Radical Openness" Conference, Edinburgh Scotland (June 2012)[11]
  • "Radical Openness" at the Zeitgeist Media Festival 2012, Los Angeles, CA, with James Cromwell and Rutger Hauer[43][44]
  • The Mirroring Mind SXSW, Austin, Texas (March 2013)[9]
  • Jason Silva: Technologies of Immersion Tribeca Film Festival "Future of Film Series", New York, NY (2014)[45][46]
  • "Innovation and Thinking Differently" at the Rockwell Lecture Series, Cullen Performance Hall, University of Houston (October 2015) [2]
  • Keynote at the LiNC'16 (Lithium Networking Conference), San Francisco, CA (June 2016)[47]
  • Teradata Partners 2017, General Session Keynote, October 25, 2017, Anaheim, CA
gollark: Hail the God-Emperor TJ09!
gollark: 🌵thinkso🌵
gollark: Or he's too busy subtly adjusting the colours of buttons.
gollark: It's probably embedded in thousands of lines of cryptic PHP spaghetti.
gollark: We need more drama, more *action*, more **suggestions/requests**.

References
  1. King, Gayle; Mason, Anthony; Otter, Jack (August 15, 2012). "For August 15, 2012, CBS". CBS This Morning. New York, NY.
  2. Emery, Mike (September 22, 2015). "TV personality, Jason Silva to deliver Rockwell Lecture at UH October 22". University of Houston. Houston, Texas. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. Andersen, Ross (April 12, 2012). "A Timothy Leary for the Viral Video Age". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. Miller, Gerri (February 3, 2016). "The Jewish stars, creators and themes of winter TV". Jewish Journal.com. Tribe Media Corp.
  5. Miller, by Gerri (3 February 2016). "The Jewish stars, creators and themes of winter TV — Jewish Journal". jewishjournal.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. "Jason Silva and Max Lugavere". Vogue Italia. May 20, 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  7. Smith, Lynn (July 5, 2006). "Programmers on Current: Your 15 minutes start now". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Region Edition). Pittsburgh, PA. p. B-4.
  8. Volmers, Eric (August 26, 2013). "Brain Games show demands heady host; Illusions, tests reveal how the mind plays tricks". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. D.5.
  9. Kolawale, Emi (March 13, 2013). "Jason Silva on what it takes to be a 'wonder junkie'". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  10. Khamis, Jumana (September 14, 2012). "Filmmaker-philosopher makes a stop at Dubai school". Gulf News. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  11. "TED Announces Speaker Program for TEDGlobal 2012 Conference "Radical Openness"". PR Newswire. New York. May 8, 2012. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  12. Gould, Dan (February 20, 2012). "Jason Silva to speak at PSFK Conference NYC 2012". PSFK.com. New York: PSFK, LLC. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  13. "Jason Silva Bio". CAA Speakers. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  14. Silva, Jason. "Radical Openness". Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  15. Silva, Jason. "Radical Openness". Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  16. Silva, Jason. "We Are The Gods Now". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  17. "Jason Silva: Futurist, Philosopher, Host of Brain Games". National Geographic Channel. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  18. "Lessons in how the brain works". The York Dispatch. York, PA. May 24, 2013.
  19. Stasi, Linda (April 22, 2013). "50 shades of grey matter. Think you're pretty smart, wisely? Check out 'Brain Games'". New York Post. p. 74.
  20. Croot, James (June 18, 2013). "Working the grey matter hard". Dominion Post. Wellington, New Zealand.
  21. "Brain Games is National Geographic's Highest-Rated Series Premiere Ever". BroadwayWorld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  22. Donkin, Karissa (August 17, 2013). "Brain Games will send your mind off to work: National Geographic Canada's new show inspires as it exercises viewers' minds". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. E.7.
  23. Origins: The Journey of Humankind, retrieved 2017-03-18
  24. "Jason Silva: Wonder junkie". CBS. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  25. "Q&A - Tanya Plibersek, Kelly O'Dwyer, Mark Carnegie, Elliot Perlman & Jason Silva". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  26. "Brian Cox". nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  27. "Season 2 of StarTalk TV on National Geographic Channel Schedule". startalkradio.net. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  28. Silva, Jason. "Shots of Awe". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  29. Istvan, Zoltan (5 June 2014). "Transhumanist Art Will Help Guide People to Becoming Masterpieces". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  30. "Google and NASA's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab". YouTube. 11 October 2013.
  31. Silva, Jason. "Joe Rogan Experience Podcast". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  32. SourceFedNERD (18 March 2014). "Steve's New Best Friend and Why Movies Are Dreams on #TableTalk!". Retrieved 26 October 2017 – via YouTube.
  33. "Jason Silva speaking at the Ideas Economy Conference in Innovation". Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  34. "Why We Could All Use a Heavy Dose of Techno-optimism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  35. "Radical Openness: A Trip Through Our Next Frontier". Forbes. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  36. "Four Steps To Finding Inspiration, From An Idea DJ". Forbes. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  37. Alex Knapp, Jason Silva Muses on Humans Turning Into Gods, Forbes, (Aug. 5, 2011).
  38. "Jason Silva's Captivating Videos Deliver a Dose of 'Techno-Optimism'". Wired. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  39. "Hybrid Reality Fellows". Hybrid Reality Institute. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  40. Jason Silva (12 December 2012). "ATTENTION: The Immersive Power of Cinema". Retrieved 26 October 2017 – via YouTube.
  41. "MEWO Kunsthalle Memmingen :: Kino und der kinematografische Blick". www.mewo-kunsthalle.de. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  42. "National Geographic Channel selects 10 next-Generation explorers as Expedition Granted finalists: from health care to the environment to bio-energy, 10 finalists have defined their ultimate dream expeditions for public consideration". PR Newswire. New York. September 16, 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  43. "2012 Zeitgeist Media Festival". Zeitgeist Media Festival. North Hollywood, CA. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  44. "Announcing Open Call for Talent in Los Angeles for 3rd Annual Zeitgeist Media Festival". PR Newswire. New York. December 7, 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  45. Silva, Jason (April 26, 2014). "On Transhumanism and Why Technology is our Silicon Nervous System". The Daily Beast. New York. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  46. "Future of Film Series to include Aaron Sorkin, Bryan Cranston, Terence Winter, Jason Silva & More". Tribeca Film. March 17, 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
  47. "Lithium announces Jason Silva as LiNC'16 Keynote". PR Newswire. New York. April 13, 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
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